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"Fathoms Below" is an opening song and the first song of Disney's 1989 animated feature film, The Little Mermaid. It was written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. It introduces the film and the legend of the merfolk from the perspective of sailors reciting to Prince Eric.

Lyrics

I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue
And it's hey to the starboard, heave-ho
Look out, lad, a mermaid be waiting for you
In mysterious fathoms below

Eric:Ah, isn't this great? The salty sea air, the wind blowing in your face. Ah, perfect day to be at sea.

Grimsby:Oh yes, delightful.

Sailor 1: A fine, strong wind and a following sea! King Triton must be in a friendly-type mood!

Eric:King Triton?!

Sailor 2:Why ruler of the merpeople, lad. Thought every good sailor knew about him.

Heave-ho. Heave-ho

Grimsby:Merpeople? Eric, pay no attention to this nautical nonsense.

Sailor 2:But it ain't nonsense, it's the truth. I'm tellin' you, down in the depth of the ocean they live.

Heave-ho. Heave-ho. Heave-ho
In mysterious fathoms below

In the soundtrack, an extra set of lyrics were added in, to fill in the gap where Eric was talking with the sailors.

Fathoms below, below
From whence wayward westerlies blow
Where Triton is king and his merpeople sing
In mysterious fathoms below

Heave ho! (x4)
I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue,
and it's hey to the starboard heave ho!
Great sailor beware for the biggun's a brewin'
in mysterious Fathoms Below!
Heave ho! (x2)

I'll sing you a song of the King of the sea,
and it's hey to the starboard heave ho!
The ruler of all of the oceans is he,
in mysterious fathoms below!
Fathoms below!
Below!
From whence wayward westerlies blow!
Where Triton is king,
and his merpeople sing,
in mysterious fathoms below!
Heave ho (x6)

I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue,
and it's hey to the starboard heave ho!
Look out lad a mermaid be waitin' for you,
in mysterious fathoms below!

Grimsby:Eric, please! Get your royal keister down from there!

Eric:Oh, Grim, nothing's going to... Woah!

Grimsby: Eric, Eric! It is not at all princely... Oh, I loathe storms!

Sailor:Ha! This ain't no storm. That's a storm! Way out there...

The King of the ocean is angry,
So trouble's a-brewin' out there!
I'm telling ya lad,
When King Triton is mad,
How the waves'll buck,
Rock to and fro.

Sailors:
Hold on, good luck,
As down you go!
For Triton is king of the bottomless blue,
And it's hey to the starboard heave ho!
Beware of the magic as merpeople do,
in mysterious fathoms below!
Heave ho! (x8)

Eric:Who are they singing about, sailor? Who is King Triton?

Sailor:Why, ruler of the merpeople, lad! And a powerful lord is he!

Eric:The merpeople?

Sailor:Aye, and they's lives down there, with the bodies of fish and the rest of 'em human!

Grimsby:Yes, it is what fifty years at sea'll do to ya.

Sailor:Make fun if ya like! But I seen 'em! Blast!

Sailors:
I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue,
And it's hey to the starboard, heave ho!
Look out lad a mermaid be waitin' for you in mysterious Fathoms Below!

Eric:Ah, isn't this great? The salty sea air, the wind blowing in your face. Ah, perfect day to be at sea.

Grimsby:Oh yes, delightful.

Sailor 1: A fine, strong wind and a following sea! King Triton must be in a friendly-type mood!

Eric:King Triton?!

Sailor 2:Why ruler of the merpeople, lad. Thought every good sailor knew about him.

Sailors:

I'll sing you a song of the king of the sea,
And it's hey to the starboard, heave ho.
The ruler of all of the oceans is he, in mysterious fathoms below!

Grimsby:Merpeople. Eric, pay no attention to this nautical nonsense.

Sailor 2:But it ain't nonsense, it's the truth. There's a whole world of merpeople under the sea.

Sailor 3:King Triton's their ruler.

Sailor 1:He's got seven fair daughters.

Sailor 4: And a witch of a sister named Ursula.

Eric:Ursula?

Sailor 4:Evil and ugly and hungry for power. King Triton, he banished her off into exile, and there she lives now, just bidin' her time.

Fathoms below in the ocean,
lives Ursula, witch of the sea!
She plots,
and she schemes,
and she wickedly dreams,
of the day that she'll return once more.
Return to rule the ocean floor!

Sailors:
She wants to be queen of the bottomless blue,
And it's hey to the starboard heave ho!
So Triton beware there's a biggun a-brewin'
Mysterious fathoms below!

I'll sing you a song of the king of the sea
An' it's hey to the starboard, heave ho!
The ruler of all of the oceans is he
In mysterious fathoms below!

Fathoms below, below!
From whence wayward westerlies blow!
Where Triton is king
And his merpeople sing
In mysterious fathoms below!

Eric:
That topsail, open her wide
Break the bounds quickly! Starboard side

Isn't this perfection, Grimsby? Out on the open sea, surrounded by nothing but water.

Grimsby:Oh yes, it's simply... delightful!

Eric:

The salt on your skin
And the wind in your hair
And the waves as they ebb and they flow!
We're miles from the shore
And guess what – I don't care!

Grimsby:
As for me, I'm about to heave ho!

Pilot:Back to work!

Sailors:

I'll sing you a song of the king of the sea
An' it's hey to the starboard, heave ho!
The ruler of all of the oceans is he
In mysterious fathoms below!

Fathoms below, below!
From whence wayward westerlies blow!
Where Triton is king
And his merpeople sing
In mysterious fathoms below!

Grimsby:King of the sea?! Why, that's nautical nonsense – nothing but a superstition!

Sailors:

I once knew a man met a mermaid,
She stole first his heart, then his mind,
And once it was got,
She just left him to rot,
And she wasn't the worst of her kind...

The king of the ocean gets angry
An' when he gets angry, beware!
I'm tellin' ya, lad, when King Triton is mad
How the waves'll buck, rock to and fro!
Hold on, good luck, as down you go!

For Triton is king of the bottomless blue,
and it's hey to the starboard heave ho!
Beware of the magic his merpeople do,
in mysterious fathoms below!

Eric:What is that, do you hear something?!

Grimsby:Milord, please. Enough sea-faring! You've got to get back to court, to honor your father's dying wish and take up his crown!

Eric:That's not the life for me, Grimsby!

This is where I belong,
Everything seems more real here,
Strange how at home I feel here,
In the tide's swift flow!
And when the pull is strong,
I almost think I hear the sea,
Wild and free,
Calling me from fathoms below!

Eric:There it is again!

Pilot:We ought to head back to shore, your majesty.

Grimsby:Indeed, we should!

Eric:Not while I'm captain. Now follow that voice! To the ends of the earth, if we have to!

Pilot:Aye-aye, Captain!

Sailors:

There's mermaids out there in the bottomless blue
An' it's hey to the starboard, heave ho!
Watch out for 'em, lad, or you'll go to your ruin
Mysterious fathoms below!

Trivia

The storyboarded version added an explanation to the backstory of Ursula the sea witch, and revealing that she is King Triton's sister. The reason why this song was cut down to the final version was because the directors wanted to get into the story sooner.